Continuous Process and Apparatus for Making a Pita Chip

Abstract

A continuous process and the accompanying equipment for making a chip product, such as pita chips. The process involves cutting sheeted dough into continuous longitudinal strips, and cooking them to form hollow tubes. In some embodiments, these tubes are split longitudinally. Also disclosed is a vacuum-assisted splitter. These bread tubes or strips are cured in an accelerated process. The bread tube is trimmed into chip-sized pieces. In one embodiment, the pita bread strips are cut into chip-sized pieces using a continuous, low-pressure water jet cutting system. The resulting chip-sized pieces are nearly uniform in size, shape, and texture.

1 . A continuous method of making chips, the method comprising the following steps:
 a) sheeting bread dough into a continuous dough sheet;   b) cutting the continuous dough sheet longitudinally into continuous dough strips;   c) cooking a continuous dough strip in a continuous oven, thereby producing a continuous bread tube, wherein the continuous bread tube comprises a cavity, a top surface, and a bottom surface;   d) curing the continuous bread tubes in less than about 60 seconds; and   e) trimming the continuous bread tubes into chip-sized pieces using a trimmer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising proofing the continuous dough sheet after sheeting of step a). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein curing of step d) occurs in a radio frequency oven. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein curing of step d) occurs in a convection oven. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the continuous bread tube has a cavity moisture level of about 32% by weight after the cooking of step c). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the continuous bread tube after the curing step d) has a moisture level ranging from about 20 to about 34% by weight. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising splitting the continuous bread tube longitudinally into a top half and a bottom half using a splitting mechanism prior to the trimming of step e). 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising a spraying step wherein the spraying step comprises spraying the continuous bread tube of step c) with an anti-adhesive liquid to remove tackiness of the top half and the bottom half. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising spraying the continuous bread tube of step c) with an anti-adhesive liquid to remove tackiness of the top surface and the bottom surface. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising flattening the continuous bread tube without re-adhering of the top surface and the bottom surface before the trimming step e). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the trimmer of step e) is a continuous low-pressure water jet cutting system. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein trimming of step e) exposes the cavity. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising drying the chip-sized pieces after the trimming of step e). 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising cooling the chip-sized pieces after the trimming of step e). 
     
     
         15 . A chip produced by the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         16 . A continuous method of making chips, the method comprising the following steps:
 a) sheeting bread dough into a continuous dough sheet;   b) cutting the continuous dough sheet longitudinally into continuous dough strips;   c) cooking a continuous dough strip in a continuous oven, thereby producing a continuous bread tube, wherein the continuous bread tube comprises a cavity, a top surface, and a bottom surface;   d) splitting the continuous bread tube longitudinally into a top half and a bottom half using a splitting mechanism assisted by a vacuum apparatus;   e) curing the continuous bread tube in less than about 60 seconds; and   f) trimming the continuous bread tubes into chip-sized pieces using a trimmer.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising proofing the continuous dough sheet after sheeting of step b). 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the vacuum apparatus of step d) comprises a top vacuum conveyor, wherein the top vacuum conveyor is coupled to the top surface of the continuous bread tube. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the vacuum apparatus of step d) comprises a bottom vacuum conveyor registered with the top vacuum conveyor, wherein the bottom vacuum conveyor is coupled to the bottom surface of the continuous bread tube. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the splitting mechanism of step d) is coupled to vacuum rollers. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the splitting mechanism of step d) comprises a plurality of horizontal rotary blades. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the splitting mechanism of step d) comprises a scallop-edged band saw. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising applying a filling between the top half and the bottom half of the continuous bread tube after step c). 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the top and the bottom halves of the continuous bread tube formed by step d) are transported together using a single-tier takeaway conveyor. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the top and bottom halves of the continuous bread tube formed by step d) are transported separately using a top takeaway conveyor and a bottom takeaway conveyor, respectively. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein curing of step e) occurs in a continuous two-tiered radio frequency dryer comprising a top tier and a bottom tier. 
     
     
         27 . The chip produced by the method of  claim 16 . 
     
     
         28 . A continuous chip production line comprising a series of unit operation each unit operation in communication with another continuous chip production line comprising:
 a sheeter in communication with a cutter, the cutter in further communication with a cooking oven, the cooking oven in further communication with a first radio frequency dryer, the first radio frequency dryer in further communication with a trimmer.   
     
     
         29 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 28 , further comprising a proofer located between and in communication with the sheeter and the cutter. 
     
     
         30 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 28 , further comprising a splitter located between and in communication with the cooking oven and the first radio frequency dryer. 
     
     
         31 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the conveyor between the cooking oven and the splitter further comprises a top vacuum conveyor coupled to a top surface of a bread product being transported thereon. 
     
     
         32 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 31 , wherein the conveyor further comprises a bottom vacuum conveyor registered with a top vacuum conveyor, wherein further the bottom vacuum conveyor is coupled to a bottom surface of the bread product transported thereon. 
     
     
         33 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the splitter comprises a plurality of horizontal rotary blades. 
     
     
         34 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the splitter comprises scallop-edged band saw. 
     
     
         35 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the first radio frequency dryer comprises a two-tiered radio frequency dryer comprising a top tier and a bottom tier. 
     
     
         36 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the conveyor located between the splitter and the first radio frequency dryer comprises a single-tier takeaway conveyor. 
     
     
         37 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 30 , wherein the conveyor located between the splitter and the first radio frequency dryer comprises a top takeaway conveyor and a bottom takeaway conveyor. 
     
     
         38 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 28 , wherein the trimmer comprises a continuous low-pressure water jet cutting system further comprising:
 a pressure system;   a water collection system;   a motion system comprising a cutting head and a permeable conveyor system; wherein the pressure system delivers water under pressure to the cutting head, and wherein further the permeable conveyor system is located between and is in communication with the first radio frequency oven.   
     
     
         39 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 28 , further comprising a second radio frequency dryer adjacent to and in communication with the trimmer. 
     
     
         40 . The continuous chip production line of  claim 39 , further comprising a cooling system adjacent to and in communication with the second radio frequency dryer.